flagrantdisregard

Happy new year.

I recorded another song just before Christmas. I don’t know where the idea came from. Christmas, shopping, the recession, foreclosures, paying bills, the Bible, the insanity of bringing a pine tree into one’s house, debt. It’s fuzzy. Many possible interpretations. What do you think?

Video: I Saw Jesus At Walmart (.mov ~11.5MB)

I recorded with Ardour. Did the percussion tracks with Hydrogen. Used ZynAddSubFX, a software synthesizer, for the synthy noises. Recorded the guitar and voice tracks with a Samson C01 microphone and Xenyx 802 mixer. I wanted to do something visual to go along with the song but I a) don’t have access to actors and b) don’t have any talent or time for animation. So I found some photos, made them into a collage, and then traced and sketched and shaded a pencil version of it with Gimp. Then I did a screen capture of erasing an opaque layer on top of the drawing to create a controlled reveal of the final image.

Me: Are we seriously going out to dinner at 4pm?
Wife: It’s a late lunch.
Me: Whatever, Grandma.

The kids are off visiting with relatives and this is what becomes of us. Roll out of bed at 11 and lunch at 4.

Inspiration for another song hit over the weekend. Funny, writing. I can try and try to write something and fail and fail—then, out of nowhere, inspiration hits and the song writes itself in a few hours. This one, melody and all, came to me from the internets.

I hope you like it. I’ve never been to Maine, but it sounds lovely. Happy Thanksgiving.

Lyrics:

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.
It’s known as the Pine Tree State.
They’ve got lobsters, lighthouses, and submarines.
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Would you like to see Moosehead Lake?
Well that’s in Maine, northernmost part of New England.
We could hike the Appalachian Trail or go to West Quoddy Head.
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

We could climb Mount Katahdin
or see Old Sow,
the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western hemisphere.

We could enjoy the Fall foliage
or kiss a French-American
but you can’t go to Golden Pond ’cause it’s really in New Hampshire
but anyway…

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.
It’s known as the Pine Tree State.
They’ve got lobsters, lighthouses, and submarines (and clams!).
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Son: Hey, Dad, you’re a pretty good singer.
Me: Thanks!
Son: Yah, if you were just a little younger you could be in a band.